Wasps’ fans visiting Toulon this weekend - some for a second time in under a year - will get plenty of opportunity to sample the full range of French rugby culture.

Situated on the Mediterranean coast between the bustling port of Marseille and eye-wateringly expensive jet-set destination Saint-Tropez, RC Toulonnais has undergone a metamorphosis in the last decade.

Since comic-book publisher Mourad Boudjellal took control of his hometown club in 2006, the Côte d’Azur club has recruited an array of superstars from around the world to supplement its traditional past as a historic blue-collar rugby city.

Early arrivals Jonny Wilkinson, Victor Matfield and Tana Umaga have been followed by the current generation of ‘Galacticos’ led by All Black Ma’a Nonu, Aussies Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and Quade Cooper, Springbok flier Bryan Habana and his countryman Juan Smith and Argentinian great Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

This has seen a club whose first century brought only three French championships rise to the top of the European game. However, Boudjellal’s Euros come with a caveat - in the style of Jose Mourinho he is, depending on your viewpoint, charismatic or outrageously outspoken. For instance, in the past week Toulon’s President said that going from Jonny Wilkinson to current fly-half Quade Cooper “is like going from foie gras to paté.”

Joe Simpson clears during Wasps' victory over Toulon

Boudjellal’s declarations are not always welcomed by the French rugby establishment - following a defeat at Clermont in January 2012, he infamously declared that his team had suffered a ‘refereeing sodomy.’ This outburst cost him €3000 in damages after the French referees’ union sued for slander, but he remains a visible and voluble presence, both on the touchline and in the changing room during and after games.

Boudjellal is not Toulon’s only high-profile name off the pitch. Current director of rugby, ex-France coach and ex-French Minister for Sport during the Sarkozy era, Bernard Laporte is soon to be replaced by Argentinian legend Diego Dominguez, as Laporte runs for election as President of the French rugby union (FFR). Given Laporte’s track record and reputation for plain-speaking this is the equivalent of Sir Clive Woodward running the RFU presidency and feathers are already flying as he challenges incumbent Pierre Camou.

Away from the rugby, a trip to the picturesque port of Bandol ten miles west of Toulon is well worth the journey, to sample both the local ambience and also the Côtes de Provence rosé for which the area is famous. Other tourist highlights include Le Castellet, a walled-village 15 miles inland from Toulon and the island of Porquerolles.

On Sunday Wasps’ fans will experience a mixture of Boudjellal-inspired razzmatazz and Stade Félix Mayol tradition. Half time is as likely to be signalled by the Star Wars theme (as per the recent Top 14 game against Pau) as a siren, while the players’ arrival on the field is greeted by AC/DC being pumped through loudspeakers.

The home players walk the final 250 pre-match metres to the ground through the supporters, and to finish their routine a haka-style call to arms ‘Pilou Pilou’ is shouted around the stadium immediately prior to kick off.

The ‘Pilou Pilou’ and its evocative language of warriors descending from the mountain to the sea, contains a famous ‘Parce que Toulon’ line. This piece of club tradition pre-dates Toulon’s Galacticos days, but has become synonymous with the club since its exposure has grown.

In another Toulon tradition, which Wasps fans will hope not to witness, fans throw newspapers in the air near the end of the game if a comfortable home victory is in sight.

The oldest of French rugby traditions also remains, namely the ability to lose away games heavily before correcting the ‘affront’ in the return fixture. Following their comfortable win at the Ricoh, Wasps are perfectly placed to experience this reaction on Sunday.